A Jet Ski and a Necklace
by kismet-wayfinder
Summary: Oneshot rip of The Gift of the Magi. Crash wants to buy the sharp Jet Ski in the sporting good store window, but his sister's upcoming birthday  and present for such an occasion  seems to be more important. Aku-Aku agrees.


**I don't own a single franchise. Yet. And sure, everyone's done a version of this story. I just chose not to do it at Christmastime.  
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><p>The sight of the big, bold, wonderful, brilliantly yellow jet ski displayed in the window of the sporting goods store was one that made the eyes of a certain anthromorphic bandicoot nearly pop out of his head. He'd been saving and saving all the money he could from odd jobs here and there for the longest time now, and today was the day he'd finally be able to buy this baby.<p>

He could just envision himself now, skiing across the rippling waves of pure blue water later on that very evening. However, before he could do this, and run on into the store to slam down the large amount of money on the counter to purchase his desired prize, he had another task at hand to finish first. And so, he turned away from the sporting goods store display window and instead headed for the nearby mall department store, which carried just about any and every sort of item one could imagine.

Crash was soon scratching at the back of his big, orange, furry head as he idly looked around the department store he found himself in seconds later. Blundering about from one counter to the next, he sighed and grumbled unintelligibly to himself as he glanced from rings to necklaces to perfumes bottles, to stuffed animals. This place had it all! And that was really the whole problem, now that Crash thought about it, which was saying a lot, since this particular bandicoot didn't often bother to think too much about any thing at all unless it was completely necessary for him to do so.

"Gragh!" he finally exclaimed, grabbing his head in a fury of confusion as he squeezed his eyes closed tight, beginning to develop a headache.

"What is troubling you so?" spoke a voice near to Crash's ear then.

Glancing over to the side, Crash shook his head again as he squinted at a floating, wooden mask being.

"Aku-Aku…" he said simply with a sigh, before pointing at the various makeup and jewelry counters, and then shaking his head again. "Coco - tomorrow?"

Comprehension dawning on him, Aku-Aku flashed the large bandicoot a smile, before saying to him, "Ah, so you're feeling troubled about what to buy Coco for her birthday tomorrow, yes?"

Nodding his head eagerly, Crash then gave the floating mask a thumbs-up to acknowledge the recognition, before returning to his practice of glancing all around at the various department store counters. His use of gestures was really a must, considering that pretty much the only person who _truly_ understood him completely _was_ Coco in the first place. And so, he continued using said gestures, pointing to various things while looking at Aku-Aku expectantly, trying to garner the guardian mask's opinion.

"Well, Crash, what do you _expect_ she'd like best?" Aku-Aku said to him, following alongside his friend, floating near to his shoulder. "She has a lot of things like stuffed bears and dolls. And besides, she's going to be turning sixteen years old. I think we can count toys, dolls, and those sorts of things out for the most part, yes?"

"Yeah…" Crash grunted back, before blinking twice as he caught sight of a necklace hanging nearby. It consisted of a twisted, silver chain, and it had a pendant the size of a small wumpa fruit dangling in the center of it.

Pointing at it excitedly, the bandicoot then hurried over to the stand and gently lifted the necklace up from the mannequin stand that had been displaying it. "I want this one for her…" he said.

"That's going to cost a _pretty_ penny," Aku-Aku said to Crash, floating around to look at the price tag. "What about that new jet ski you were eyeing earlier? The one you saved up money for months for?"

Glancing back at Aku-Aku with confusion on his face, the mask gave another smile and a nod, saying, "Yes, I _was_ paying attention earlier, too, Crash."

Hanging his head, the large bandicoot gave a sigh, before staring at the pendant on the necklace. It was a strangely bright shade of green, and it reminded him of his sister's eyes. It'd probably look really nice on her, especially if she were to wear it to the upcoming dance at the social common that she'd only been mentioning every single day the past week.

The thing was, Crash _really_ wanted the jet ski. He really, _really_ did. He could feel the wind in his fur just by closing his eyes and imagining himself on the jet ski once again… but that feeling of elation was soon dampered as the figure of Coco's face floated into place in his mind's eye. He could imagine her face, too, just as easily as he could imagine the jet ski. And as he imagined her, he saw her receiving the necklace, and smiling from ear to ear. That sight in his mind's eye beat out the feeling of happiness he associated with the jet ski by a longshot.

Raising his eyebrows as he glanced back once more to Aku-Aku, Crash gave him a half-shrug, before stepping up to the counter and placing the necklace upon it with one hand, while pulling his wallet from his back pocket with his other.

"Would you like this gift wrapped?" the sales clerk asked him as he rang up the item at the register.

Nodding in reply as he handed over all but a couple of dollars -rendering him practically broke now- Crash smiled faintly to himself; he wouldn't be getting his jet ski, but he would be making his sister very happy.

Besides, in the end, what was really more important anyway?

And so, as Aku-Aku and Crash left the department store with a small bag moments later, they paused once more at the sporting goods store to look at the Jet Ski in the window display. However, it was no longer there. How had it disappeared so quickly? Just having to know this, Crash and the floating mask hurried on into the store to find out.

"Excuse me," Aku-Aku said to the clerk behind the counter. "My friend and I here couldn't help but notice that the lovely jet ski that was just out there in your display case moments ago is no longer there. Did someone come along and buy it?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," the clerk replied. "A young woman came in here moments ago, paid for it in full, and had it taken off immediately to be delivered to her home, to surprise her brother with it."

Upon hearing this, Crash and Aku-Aku quickly exchanged surprised glances, before looking back to the clerk.

"This young woman wouldn't have happened to be a blonde-haired bandicoot, would she?" Aku-Aku asked him.

"Well actually, yes, she was. She'd said she'd come here to get a necklace for a party, but when she saw our fine jet ski set out in the display, she came in here instead and bought it, allegedly as a gift, as I said. That was her story, at least."

"Ha!" the floating mask exclaimed, before giving a wink to his bandicoot friend. "I'd say you definitely made the right birthday purchase decision, after all, wouldn't you, Crash?"

Nodding his head in agreement, he replied, "Right on!"


End file.
